We recently asked Dr. Zappy about everything from patient success stories to his advice for students to the most important lessons he’s learned. Here’s what he had to say:

Tell us about your practice. What sets you apart from other practitioners in your area?

Our practice specializes in movement. The quality of your movement dictates the quality of your life. We focus heavily on biomechanics to accurately determine limitations in movement that are generating pain. The best part about our clinic is that patients get better, faster. Ultimately saving more money and returning to activity sooner.

We’d like to talk about a patient success story you’re especially proud of. Tell us about the patient. How did they learn about your practice?

I had a patient present to the office with low back pain that no one could properly diagnose. He went to all the orthopedists who shot him with cortisone, avoided all the surgeons who wanted to do surgery, countless massages that only gave temporary relief and over-the-counter pain meds that didn’t even work.

At his wits end, he starts talking to his friend about his pain and his friend tells him, you gotta go see Dr. Zappy. So he comes in with no hope and reserved judgment about his condition being “unfixable.” After our in-depth exam and biomechanical analysis, turns out, the problem had nothing to do with his back at all! The problem was coming a lack of mobility in the hip joint which was forcing an increased load on the low back. Not more than four treatments later he was water skiing again with his family. Sometimes the site of pain is not the area of concern. Restore function first, and nine times out of 10 the pain resolves. Needless to say, I see many of his friends and family now as well.

Why did this patient come to your practice? What problems were they experiencing?

Severe undiagnosed low back pain with no positive imaging studies and no help from other doctors.

Biomechanical correction in the hips to reduce the load on the low back.

What was the impact your treatment had on the patient? How did you help him or her?

Massive impact on this patient’s quality of life. He was able to return to activities he loved, spend time with his family again, his spirits were elevated, and he felt like he could simply enjoy life again.

What advice would you give Chiro students today? For instance looking back at your own career is there anything you would do differently?

For Chiro students today, stop going by the curriculum of the school you are enrolled in. Branch out! Go to seminars, CEU courses, technique courses. Try out other profession courses like PT’s, personal trainers, massage. Learn as much as you can in a variety of different disciplines. Bottom line, patients don’t read text books. No one presents in a “classic” case. You have to build your tool box. When all you have is a hammer, all you see are nails.

Please talk about any ways you are trying to impact the community you’re a part of:

Mentoring/Teaching? We own and operate a post secondary educational school called the Wellness Institute of Chester County where we teach the community a variety of different health related subjects.

Community involvement/awareness? We are involved in the local community through coaching sports, leading the medical staff at local youth sport organizations, holding monthly classes at our facility, blogging articles, updating our Facebook page with valuable health-related information, etc.

Working with veterans or the disabled? We work with the disabled at a discounted rate and treat veterans at no charge.

What is the funniest thing, if any, that has happened to you in practice?

When you adjust people sometimes you need to generate a lot of force. Sometimes the positions you put them in can place a lot of pressure in the bowels. It never fails to make me giggle when someone can’t hold it in during an adjustment.

Anything (that you care to admit) that you would never do again?

I would never open in a community that I was brand new in again. It took a long time to build community trust, build relationships, and ultimately find friends in a town I was unfamiliar with.

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